In a move that has turned heads in the media and prompted pushback from critics, House Democrats are considering taking “extraordinary steps” to hide the identity of the Ukraine call whistleblower from President Trump’s “congressional allies.” The Democrats’ consideration of “unprecedented” measures come amid new revelations about the whistleblower’s reported “political bias.”
Citing “three officials familiar with the deliberations,” The Washington Post reported Monday that the House Democrats heading up the investigation into Trump’s alleged “pressuring” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden are considering conducting the whistleblower’s interview in “a remote location” and “obscuring the individual’s appearance and voice.”
“There are lots of different protocols and procedures we’re looking into to find out what works and doesn’t work to protect the identity of the whistleblower,” one of the sources told the Post. The protection of the whistleblower’s identity is “paramount,” the source stressed.
“The highly unusual arrangement for the whistleblower’s testimony underscores the toxicity between Republicans and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, which was once considered among the most bipartisan but is now spearheading the divisive impeachment investigation,” the Post notes. “One individual familiar with the discussions said this is the first time the panel has had to take such extraordinary measures to protect a witness — including from their GOP colleagues.”
As Trump and other Republicans are calling for the whistleblower’s identity to be revealed, more information has come to light. Along with The New York Times revealing last week that the whistleblower is a CIA agent who was assigned to the White House, The Washington Examiner’s Byron York reported Tuesday that Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson wrote in an Aug. 26 letter that the whistleblower had “some indicia of an arguable political bias … in favor of a rival political candidate.”
Citing three different sources familiar with Atkinson’s testimony to congressional investigators on Friday, York reports that rather than the whistleblower’s “political bias” simply being that he or she is a registered Democrat, as many on the left have suggested, the whistleblower reportedly had “a prior working relationship with a current 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.”
“The IG said [the whistleblower] worked or had some type of professional relationship with one of the Democratic candidates,” said one person with knowledge of what was said.
“The IG said the whistleblower had a professional relationship with one of the 2020 candidates,” said another person with knowledge of what was said.
“What [Atkinson] said was that the whistleblower self-disclosed that he was a registered Democrat and that he had a prior working relationship with a current 2020 Democratic presidential candidate,” said a third person with knowledge of what was said.
The Democrats’ “extraordinary steps” to hide the whistleblower’s identity from Republicans has inspired widespread criticism online. In response to various outlets’ coverage of the story posted on Twitter, critics have slammed the Democrats’ for conducting themselves like a “#BananaRepublic” and presiding over a “#KangarooCourt.” Among the critics is House Republican Whip Steve Scalise.
“This entire process has been a scam,” Rep. Scalise tweeted Monday. “Dems now plan to only allow themselves and their staff to know the whistleblower’s identity, while concealing it from Republican committee members. This is unprecedented. What are they trying to hide??”
This entire process has been a scam.
Dems now plan to only allow themselves and their staff to know the whistleblower’s identity, while concealing it from Republican committee members.
This is unprecedented. What are they trying to hide??#KangarooCourt https://t.co/AmIvachqKN
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 7, 2019
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also slammed the Democrats for the secretive move.
“Everyone in America — including President @realDonaldTrump — has the right to confront their accuser,” tweeted Graham. “If impeachment is designed to ‘Uphold the Constitution’ you are in the process of destroying it by preventing the President and his team from confronting the witnesses against them. This is an unsustainable position.”
If impeachment is designed to ‘Uphold the Constitution’ you are in the process of destroying it by preventing the President and his team from confronting the witnesses against them.
This is an unsustainable position.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) October 7, 2019
Trump also picked up on the “kangaroo court” theme, tweeting Tuesday after the State Department told U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland not to appear at a scheduled interview with Democrat-led congressional committees, “I would love to send Ambassador Sondland, a really good man and great American, to testify, but unfortunately he would be testifying before a totally compromised kangaroo court, where Republican’s rights have been taken away, and true facts are not allowed out for the public to see.”
….to see. Importantly, Ambassador Sondland’s tweet, which few report, stated, “I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo’s of any kind.” That says it ALL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2019
Others who have blasted the Democrats’ secretive measures include Brit Hume and Jonah Goldberg:
That would do a lot for the credibility of their investigations, making it blatantly partisan. https://t.co/5ippZvf26u
— Brit Hume (@brithume) October 7, 2019
This is incandescently stupid. https://t.co/2bglOaHZaO
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) October 8, 2019
Related: Whistleblower ‘Had A Significant’ Tie To Democrat Challenging Trump In 2020 Election, Report Says